Corning currently has three other AFR qualified labs in China located in Shandong and Shanghai. Opening this new lab in Fuzhou, located in eastern China, will give a new regional demographic of customers convenient access to AFR technology. According to Yi Jiang, business director, global Advanced-Flow reactors, and innovation officer, Corning Greater China, the fine and specialty chemical industries are among the fastest growing sectors in this particular region. The strategic location of this new qualified lab meets the market need for chemical processing solutions that align with the government’s recent push to upgrade from traditional manufacturing platforms to those with a lesser environmental impact, using inherently safer technology.

Though this lab will be the fourth of its kind in China, it is the first to be located in a Chinese University’s innovation park. Jiang commented, “AFR technology is a disruptive innovation requiring a new mindset. We believe this collaboration will not only help the University advance its chemical processing efforts, it will also help educate and train the next generation of chemical engineers and process chemists, a critical factor in making AFR technology a widely adopted solution for China’s chemical industries.”

Vice Chancellor of Fuzhou University Zhigang Huang shares this optimism. “We are excited about this strategic collaboration with Corning,” said Huang. “This AFR qualified lab enables us to provide comprehensive services to the chemical industry with inherently safer and seamless scalable process solutions.”

Fuzhou University’s AFR qualified lab demonstrates the Corning Advanced-Flow reactor’s ability to easily and efficiently transition from lab testing to full scale production of chemicals for the pharmaceutical, specialty, and fine chemical industries. “Fuzhou University has successfully integrated a Corning G1 reactor in a continuous flow chemical process, and scaled up seamlessly to Corning G4 industrial production,” said Jiang. “Potential customers in this region can now conveniently contact the lab to schedule technology demonstrations and to see firsthand the safer, easier, and seamless scalable solutions enabled by Corning Advanced-Flow reactors.” Jiang is hopeful that the academic community in China will continue to embrace AFR innovation, resulting in more qualified labs at academic institutions in the future.